Best PlacesElmore County, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Elmore County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elmore County ranks 1,218th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Elmore County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Elmore County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elmore County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 160 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of counties
Where Elmore County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Elmore County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elmore County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,655, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Elmore County's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elmore County
Elmore County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elmore County.
Who works in Elmore County, and how
Work in Elmore County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Elmore County
Elmore County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Elmore County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Elmore County growing, and who is moving in?
Elmore County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Boise, ID.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Elmore County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Elmore County, month by month
Elmore County sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 34° |
| July | 98° | 80° | 60° |
| October | 69° | 51° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Elmore County
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 41 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 59 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Elmore County
Schools across Elmore County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Stanley Elem/jr High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Trail Wind ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Stephensen Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Junior High SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Les Bois Junior High SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Mountain Home Junior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Richard Mckenna Charter School - OnsiteA · 75% proficient
- Timberline High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Camas County High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elmore County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elmore County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Elmore County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Elmore County suits
Families
Schools land around the 39th percentile and crime safety beats 93%.
Common questions about living in Elmore County
Is Elmore County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elmore County ranks 1,218th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elmore County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $305,638. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,655 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Elmore County safe?
Yes, Elmore County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $274 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elmore County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 160 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of counties.
Is Elmore County good for families?
Schools beat 39% of counties, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $552 a month.
Compare Elmore County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elmore County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elmore County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Elmore County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elmore County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elmore County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elmore County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elmore County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elmore County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.